“WORST DEFEAT”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20877, 1 September 1942, Page 3

“WORST DEFEAT”

ENEMY IN SOLOMONS COUNTER-BLOW EXPECTED NEW YORK PRESS VIEWS (10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, Aug. 31. The New York Times, in a leader, says: “The details of our conquest of the south-west Solomons show that this first American offensive of the war .to be one of the most clear-cut. efficient and gallant operations in history. The insignificant toll of prisoners taken reveals .the fanatical courage with which the enemy resisted, but no courage could overcome the brilliant co-ordination of our sea and land forces or plan of attack. The Battle of the Solomons is the worst defeat the Japanese have suffered in the Pacific, not perhaps in naval tonnage sent to the bottom, but in prestige and position. They have lost a base which is essential to their plan of Pacific conquest and lie exposed to attack at many points. The Japanese know they have been driven from Tulagi by a superior force and the whole Far East knows it. Tokio cannot accept .this humiliation. The determined Japanese assault in the Milne Bay region shows that they will contest every foot of our advance, either by counterattack or diversional operations.” Inspiring But Confusing The New York Herald-Tribune says: “The Solomons is an inspiring story, but it is also confusing in its strategic implications. The navy believes the Tulagi and Guadalcanar positions to be ‘well established’ and has released glimpses of the subsequent aerial and naval encounters which seem to indicate that our forces successfully repelled major Japanese efforts to retake the base. Yet at the same time a high authority in Washington insists that these are all minor affairs and is still in doubt whether the real counter-attack may not yet be to come.” The Herald-Tribune adds: “The situation is further obscured by the Japanese landing in Milne Bay. The latest reports from there are good, but should the Japanese establish themselves there it might go far to offset sr.ccess in the Solomons. Certainly one operation cannot be fully assessed until the results of others are definite, and the ‘higher authority’ may not be trying to issue a warning against taking too literally the navy’s enthusiasm for its achievements. However, what can be said is that here, in miniature, is a picture of what the Far Eastern war is going to be. It will be grim. It will be bloody and it will be fought for keeps.”